Chastity Conjure ‘The Virgin Suicides’ in ‘Die From My Mind’

Hailing from 35 miles outside of Toronto is Whitby, Ontario, home to Brandon Williams, aka Chastity. Previously re-releasing the his tape via new home Captured Tracks, Williams has now unleashed the Peroxide 7" TODAY via the same label. The lead single from that release is "Die From My Mind," a power-pop track that leans on everything from Teenage Fanclub to Hum, exposing an emotional side amidst the muscular and soaring guitars. Stream that track from the two-song release below.

With the new effort out in the wild, we sent a few questions over to WIlliams to discuss the new track, finding inspiration in the darkness and being a musician in Canada in 2017.

There is a haunting quality to your music. Are your compositions based on personal catharsis?
I think so. Catharsis, I think, though, is supposed to offer some relief in return. It isn’t relieving performing them back, over and over, to maybe stir up feelings or memories that are better off repressed.

Do you have a predilection toward darkness in music? Do you take inspiration from "happy songs" or enjoy them less than, say, something that is more complex emotionally?
I can’t figure out where songs come from, but I don’t think that mine come from happy songs. I know that I'm most likely to write when I’m upset or when I am pissed. These songs may have just come out more complex because I am hoping to work something better out for myself, to write a happier ending.

"Die From My Mind" is the track that makes its appearance here today. Can you give us some details on how it was made, inspiration, etc.?
You have your whole life to write your first record? I think. I’ve heard great songwriters say it, and now I've found it true in putting together these songs these past few months. This song is from when I was 16. A.J. Cook, who played Mary in The Virgin Suicides, went to Anderson Collegiate [Vocational Institute], the high school that I went to. She graduated years before me, but I think I survived by my imagination in high school.

How would you quantify Canada's ability to nurture young independent artists? As a young artist, who are some Canadian artists from which you take inspiration?
Ah, honestly, haven’t got much idea about this. I live in a town called Whitby, and there isn’t much I’ve seen for nurturing young independent artists. I’ve just emailed a gallery here to see if they may be interested in doing a fundraiser show with a few friends of mine, and they sent short word back that they were booked until 2018. But I think neglect is the most purposed form of nurture that you can give an artist.